Experiments were conducted in which three selected metals-contaminated mine drainage water samples were treated by chemical precipitation followed by flotation using colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs) to concentrate the precipitates. Drainage water samples used in the experiments were collected from an abandoned turn-of-the-century copper mine in south-central Wyoming, an inactive gold mine in Colorado's historic Clear Creek mining district, and a relatively modern gold mine near Rapid City, South Dakota. The copper mine drainage sample was nearly neutral (pH 6.5) while the two gold mine samples were quite acidic (pH(approx)2.5). Metals concentrations ranged from a few mg/L for the copper mine drainage to several thousand mg/L for the sample from South Dakota. CGAs are emulsions of micrometer-sized soap bubbles generated in a surfactant solution. In flotation processes the CGA microbubbles provide a huge interfacial surface area and cause minimal turbulence as they rise through the liquid. CGA flotation can provide an inexpensive alternative to dissolved air flotation (DAF).
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